She could feel in him the primal strength that had allowed him to tear Nick from the powerful undercurrent, and her body yielded to it as he took control.
A long rumble of thunder in the distance, followed by an earth shattering crack, caused her eyelids to snap open. Over Nick’s shoulder, a storm was moving in from the ocean. A thick, wall of cloud and water lit up by flashes of lightning was fast approaching.
“Nick look!” she said pointing out to sea.
“That’s Miami for you,” said Nick. In seconds, the storm was overhead and hot droplets of rain were falling down over their heads.
They looked up at the sky together and laughed, stretching out their hands and catching the rain on their faces. She kissed him again deeply, the fresh smell of the storm enlivening her senses. She was enchanted by the idea of making love in the rain, but another loud crash from right above them was enough to change her mind. She pulled away from Nick and leapt from the pool thrilled, frightened, but laughing wildly in the face of the torrential downpour. Nick followed quickly, chasing her into the house, his deep laughter competing with the skies.
9.
Nick brought some towels and after they had dried off, he said, “I know the perfect place where we can watch the storm. Follow me.”
Riley followed him up the stairs, wrapped in a towel, and then watched as he opened a hatch in the ceiling. “Are you taking me into the attic?” she asked.
Nick grinned, that same mysterious smile that he had given her in the restaurant. A set of stairs lowered on a hinge and bright natural light shone down. “Ladies first,” he said.
Curiously, Riley climbed the stairs and found herself, to her amazement, in a greenhouse observatory. Exotic plants grew under bright artificial sunlight and sprinklers sprayed fine mist into the air like a perfectly encapsulated section of jungle. A Koi pond wound its way around the room and in the centre was an open area with rustic wooden flooring and a sofa as big as a double bed. To one side stood a telescope aimed out to sea and tied between two sturdy beams hung a hammock.
“This is amazing!” said Riley. “Look, there’re even butterflies.” A group of them gathered around a puddle of condensation building on the glass while outside the storm raged on. The rain hammered against the glass with futility. Inside the glass room however, the rain sounded like a far-away ocean.
“This is my little piece of paradise,” said Nick. “I come here to think. I come up with most my creative ideas for the company here. I wanted to buy an island, but I figured this was the next best thing. Saves on commuting by boat.”
Riley couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but she laughed anyway, more out of sheer awe for the place than anything else.
Nick joined Riley peering out of the glass wall at the storm beyond, her hand resting against the cool glass. She turned to him, smiling, as he placed her hand on the small of her back, unravelling her towel and letting it fall to the floor, leaving her standing naked in front of the glass.
She giggled and pressed her breasts against the warmth of his torso to cover herself. “Can anyone see in?”
“Not in this storm.”
“Too bad,” she said, and with a cheeky smile, she similarly unravelled the towel around his waist.
The illusion of being in a jungle was so convincing, and the world beyond was so dark under the cover of the storm that it was easy to imagine that they were the only two people for miles around.
He scooped her effortlessly into his arms. With a gleeful cry, she wrapped her legs around his waist, holding onto his powerful body as they kissed, his hands firmly supporting her buttocks.
Then, with as much ease, he carried her to the large futon in the centre of the floor and lay her down. With a turn of a dial on a remote control lying on the mattress, the bright spotlight dimmed, and the artificial midday sunlight became twilight. The rain still drummed its hushed rhythm against the glass and she could hear the gurgling of the waterfall feeding the winding koi pond. The effect was hypnotic, soothing, never before had she felt so at peace than in this warm sanctuary with so strong a man.
He kissed her gently, the rogue power of his masculinity kept purposefully in check as his teeth grazed her lip, her earlobe, her neck, sending shivers across her cool skin.
Her hands roamed down his spine, feeling the hot machinery of muscles beneath his skin as his mouth moved down, nibbling her breasts, her nipples, her navel. Exquisite pleasure burned wherever his mouth landed, slowly nearing the part of her that craved him the most. As if he sensed this, teasing her, he instead kissed her inner thigh, the back of her knee, her calf. She hooked her leg around the back of his neck, pulling him in, drawing him back on course. Even so, his teasing continued, he blew cool air onto her, doubling her longing for his hot tongue, then hot breath, his mouth so close to her that she could almost imagine feeling it against her. She almost begged him, but instead she simply bit her lip and moaned as she throbbed and tingled with anticipation.
When it came, his tongue felt like a flame licking her. She rocked her hips upward and savored the fullness of his hot mouth against her, swirling and surging like the tide.
Her breathing grew heavy and at her climax she felt so dizzy that she thought she might faint. It gripped her hard and her hips rocked uncontrollably in his mighty hold.
When he came up to kiss her, she pushed him backwards onto the bed, pinning him beneath her, him playing along though she knew full well that he could easily overpower her. She pressed him down by the wrists and he pretended to push back, until she had to strain with all of her bodyweight to hold him. Then he relaxed with a feigned resignation.
Her hands slid from his wrists, down his tanned and muscular forearms — each bulge and wiry tendon alive beneath the surface of his skin — along the tightly balled biceps and up to his rippling chest. There she rested, her thumbnails delicately toying with his nipples while she admired his body. She could feel his sex quivering beneath her. His fingers curled into her hair and pulled her head down so that he could kiss her.
In the rich, earthy atmosphere of the greenhouse, the smell of his body and the washed away cologne was like some kind of wild spice. She breathed him in deeply then pulled away from his mouth. It was her turn to tease him. She wanted to see him reduced to desperate desire as he had done to her, wanted to push him to the point where he could no longer keep in check the powerful beast fighting under his control.
His gaze bore into her as she lowered herself. She maintained his gaze, looking up at him innocently as she wrapped her fingers around his considerable manhood, stroking it slowly and watching his body react. She didn’t feel innocent. She felt naughty. The kind of naughty you feel skinny dipping in the ocean of a deserted beach. The kind of naughty you feel secretly touching yourself with your roommate next door. The kind of naughty you feel staring up into the eyes of your brother’s best friend who is ten years older than you and who has just given you the best orgasm of your life. She savored these forbidden feelings as she scooped up his sex with her mouth. He groaned as she encircled him with both her hands, caressing, twisting, while her mouth teased.
When his abdominal muscles began to tense, she straddled him, pressing lightly against his slick underside, sliding back and forth, but never allowing entry. She could feel each ridge parting her soft folds, scraping along her delicate nub. She could see him tormented with desire, desperate to be inside her. His hands reached out to massage her breasts and soon her own blind lust prohibited her from teasing him any longer. She guided him between her legs and lowered herself onto him, allowing him to fill her once again.
Her legs trembled as his sex pressed against some sweet spot inside her and she bore down on him harder, angling herself to make the most of his exquisite hardness. His hands gripped her hips and although she sat over him, she realiszd once again that she was no longer in control.
He rocked her firmly back and forth, the sweet spot inside her screaming in ecstasy against him. She came again almost immediately as
he sat up to hold her body against his. Her fingernails dug into his back as she shook.
He was patient with her as the climax wound and unwound, but when he pushed her backwards to take the dominant position, she knew that his patience had evaporated and now the full fury of the beast was unleashed.
Pushing her legs back, he plunged into her. Their bodies barely touching but for the feverish join at their pulsating sexual cores. Her body rocked back and forth with the force of each stroke and she urged him on with a rising crescendo of ecstatic cries.
She came again, even harder this time, while his thumb massaged the soft nub at the apex of her sex. She had barely recovered from the sheer immensity of it when he flipped her over in one deft movement and propped her on all fours. In this position, she felt the full force of him, his strong hands gripping her buttocks and forcing her against him in tandem with the thrust of his powerful hips.
Riley closed her eyes and buried her face in the warm fabric covering the futon. She was drunk on passion now, able to do nothing, but let him have his way with her as he pleased. “Yes, Nick!” she cried, the only words she could manage. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
As he reached climaxed, he withdrew from her and collapsed on top of her, forcing her deeper into the mattress as he spent himself on the sheet. The thunder of his groan in her ear sent more shivers up her spine, so much more thrilling than even facing the raw power of the electrical storm outside.
She wriggled around to face him and he planted a kiss on her lips, his eyes now softening once again. “You’re incredible,” he whispered.
She felt butterflies rising in her as he said it and returned his kiss with renewed longing.
As they lay together, panting from their exertion, her head resting on his chest, his hand reaching around her to cup her breast, they watched two butterflies flying in haphazard circles around them before descending.
“Watch this,” said Nick as they alighted on her side. The two butterflies, black with bright blue flecks, perched sipping up the salty sheen of her perspiration. He grinned. “They like you. They must think you’re tasty.”
“Apparently they aren’t the only ones.”
Nick chuckled and kissed her again. She couldn’t decide what was more magical, his laugh or the butterflies still tickling the skin of her thigh.
Outside the storm had passed.
“I really like you, Riley,” said Nick.
“I really like you too. Does this mean you want to be…you know…a thing?”
“A thing? I’d like for you to be my girl, yes.”
“And Matt?”
“I guess we’d have to tell him,” said Nick.
“I have six month left of college. Do you think you could wait that long for me to get back?”
“Could you?”
“Hell, yeah. For you.”
Nick smiled. “Then I can do the same. After all, I’m only gonna be around here working with your brother. Do you want me to tell him?”
“No,” said Riley. “I’ll tell him.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it’s the least I can do.”
10.
Riley woke early the next morning. They had fallen asleep in Nick’s bed after another round of steamy lovemaking. She pulled herself away from Nick’s naked body and pulled on his shirt. It hung so baggy on her that she wondered how a human being could ever quite fill it the way he did.
She made her way down into the kitchen. She had promised him breakfast and she was going to fulfill that promise even if it meant rising at the crack of dawn. She did her best keeping quiet while she rifled through the unfamiliar fridge and cupboards and finally got together the ingredients for a breakfast of pork sausages, eggs, toast and coffee.
Once she was done, she loaded it onto a tray and crept back up the stairs and into his bedroom. He was still fast asleep. She placed the tray onto his bedside table and crept back beneath the toasty covers with him.
His eyelids fluttered as she ran her hands down his body beneath the sheets and he rolled over to kiss her.
“Morning handsome,” she said. “I promised you breakfast, so I made you breakfast in bed.”
He nuzzled her neck with his stubbled chin by way of thanks and goose bumps erupted on her arms. “You keep doing that and the breakfast is going to have to wait until you’ve finished what you’ve started,” she teased.
They ate breakfast together and after they had both showered and dressed, they headed back to the hospital to see Matt. This time, her excitement to see him was added to by the nervousness of what she had to tell him. Would he accept her wanting to be with Nick? Would he reject it outright? Would it be wise to even tell him now? She hoped it wouldn’t affect his relationship with Nick, or worse, affect his relationship with her. She could only pray that he would be able to see it from her perspective.
When they arrived at the door to Matt’s room, Riley turned to Nick.
“I’m so nervous,” she said. “What if he gets upset?”
“Better to tell him now than keep it a secret,” said Nick. “You sure you don’t want me to do it?”
“No, I’m sure.”
They went in together, to find Matt propped up on his pillow looking cheerier than the day before.
“Hey, guys!” he greeted happily. “The doctors say I’m going to be out of here by the end of the week. I’ll still need to wear the neck brace, but otherwise, it’s all good.”
Riley clapped her hands and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s great news!” she said.
Nick slapped Matt on the shoulder. “I guess they’ve had enough of you then.”
“Nah, they love me here,” said Matt grinning mischievously. “That nurse of mine keeps giving me sexy looks. I think she wants me to stick around some more.”
“You mean nursezilla that keeps chasing us away?” said Nick.
“Yeah, that’s her. You know me, I love a strong woman.”
Riley laughed at that and felt some of her nervousness leave her. Now would be as good a time as any, she thought and gave Nick a look that said the same. Nick picked up on it immediately.
“I think this calls for a celebratory coffee, what do you say? Man, I can’t get enough of the stuff from this place. Maybe it’s the smell of disinfectant that makes it taste so good.”
“I’ll grab one of those,” said Matt.
“Me too,” said Riley, “thanks.”
They watched Nick leave together before Matt turned to Riley smiling mysteriously.
“What?” said Riley.
“You like him don’t you? You want to have like a million of his babies.”
Riley blushed. “How do you know?”
“Riley, you’re my sister. I haven’t seen you this happy around a guy for a long time. Your eyes practically sparkle when you look at him.”
Riley rubbed her hands together nervously. “Matt, I have to tell you something.”
“It’s already happened hasn’t it? You guys are totally falling for each other.”
Riley’s face burned with embarrassment at how transparent she was to her brother. He’d always known exactly how to read her, but this was uncanny.
Slowly, unable to hide from his question or be simultaneously swallowed by the floor, Riley nodded and braced herself for an outburst of disapproval or reprimand.
“Ha!” said Matt instead, half laughing. “I knew it!”
“You’re not angry?”
“Angry? Why should I be angry? You’re an adult and quite capable of making your own decisions. So far you seem to be pretty good at making the right ones. Besides, if there is any one person in the world good enough for my little sister, it’s Nick. The guy saved my life, what can I say? I know he’ll be good to you.”
Riley embraced her brother. “Thanks for understanding, Matt. That said, if you start dating the angry nurse, I’m disowning you.”
In a perfectly healthy state, Riley knew he would have roared with laughter at that. Instead what cam
e out was a husky, but nonetheless hearty chuckle. “Stop. Stop,” he said between laughter. “You’re killing me here.”
11.
Excitement bubbled in Riley’s belly as she stepped onto the stage in front of the hall full of people. The Chancellor of the University of London smiled pleasantly at her as he handed her her degree, rolled up and tied with a red ribbon. It was one of the proudest moments of her life and the only small mark on the otherwise momentous occasion was that Matt wasn’t there to see it. She owed her degree to him after all.
As she proudly strode to the other end of the stage, clutching her precious achievement, she thought with great anticipation of the future that lay ahead of her. She was due to fly back to Miami in a week’s time in search for work. Her and Nick had maintained their promise to each other, texting almost every night, and she felt closer to him now than ever before, even though they had been a world apart the entire time. She couldn’t wait to meet him at the airport, to wrap her arms around him and smell his oaky cologne, touch his sun-kissed skin and feel the life force behind his lips.
As she turned to face the crowd, she felt as though she were standing at the edge of a dream, at the momentous threshold of the rest of her life: a life of joy and wonder. Without the distraction of her studies, she knew that the next week would feel longer than the sum of the last six months without him.
SHEIKH'S SURPRISE BABY: A Sheikh Romance Page 70
